A complete guide to the WWI uniforms and equipment of RFC pilots and airmen—fully illustrated with color photos. When the First World War began in 1914, the newly formed Royal Flying Corps was put to the ultimate test. As the Great War raged, the developments in military aviation were profound, not only in terms of aerial warfare, but also—as this book reveals—in the uniforms and equipment the aircrew used. All the objects that a Royal Flying Corps pilot or airman was issued for sorties over the Western Front are explored in this book. Amply illustrated with high-definition color photographs, it details everything from clothing and headgear to personal weapons, gloves, goggles and early life preservers. Each item is fully described, and its purpose and use explained.
Throughout the relatively short yet highly distinguished history of the Royal Air Force there has been a tendency for the men and women of the Service to be overshadowed by the glamour of the aircraft.Nonetheless it is surprising that there has never before been a complete record of the uniforms and badges of the RAF and its predecessor, the Royal Flying Corps. Malcolm Hobart and Pen and Sword Books have cooperated to rectify this serious omission with this superbly colour illustrated and comprehensive collector's guide. Badges of rank and trade are all depicted not only for the flying arms but for ground staff. This valuable addition to our Collector series also covers the RAF Reserves and Auxiliary Service, Air Training Corps and the Royal Observer Corps.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coalition fought through North Africa and Italy to the threshold of victory. Now, in The Guns at Last Light, he tells the most dramatic story of all—the titanic battle for Western Europe. D-Day marked the commencement of the final campaign of the European war, and Atkinson's riveting account of that bold gamble sets the pace for the masterly narrative that follows. The brutal fight in Normandy, the liberation of Paris, the disaster that was Operation Market Garden, the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and finally the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich—all these historic events and more come alive with a wealth of new material and a mesmerizing cast of characters. Atkinson tells the tale from the perspective of participants at every level, from presidents and generals to war-weary lieutenants and terrified teenage riflemen. When Germany at last surrenders, we understand anew both the devastating cost of this global conflagration and the enormous effort required to win the Allied victory. With the stirring final volume of this monumental trilogy, Atkinson's accomplishment is manifest. He has produced the definitive chronicle of the war that unshackled a continent and preserved freedom in the West. One of The Washington Post's Top 10 Books of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013
This murder mystery set amid the social whirl of 1920s Newport “beautifully captures the flavor of the period” (Rendezvous). Gossip columnist, gallery owner, amateur sleuth—Bedford Green has been a lot of things, but he’s never been respectable. So on a blistering hot afternoon in 1925, the impeccably dressed man-about-town is shocked to receive an invitation from the Vanderbilts requesting that he spend a few days in their cottage at Newport. By “cottage,” of course, the Vanderbilts mean the Breakers—a seventy-room mansion lavish enough to make King Midas blush. Desperate to escape the rising mercury level in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Green accepts, and brings along his invaluable assistant, Sloane. But out at the Breakers, he’ll find there are more dangerous things than a heat wave. The Vanderbilts have hired Green to investigate the mysterious Countess Zala, an interloper whose arrival has been the talk of the season. But when Green lands at Newport, the countess is found murdered on the beach—and the party is just getting started . . . The Uninvited Countess is the second book in the Bedford Green Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
“Reading like a novel, this primary source is a valuable look at the ‘other side’ of World War II aviation.”—Gazette665 Heinz Knoke was one of the outstanding German fighter pilots of World War II and this vivid first-hand record of his experiences has become a classic among aviation memoirs, a bestselling counterbalance to the numerous accounts written by Allied pilots. Knoke joined the Luftwaffe on the outbreak of war, and eventually became commanding officer of a fighter wing. An outstandingly brave and skillful fighter, he logged over two thousand flights, and shot down fifty-two enemy aircraft. He had flown over four hundred operational missions before being crippled by wounds in an astonishing ‘last stand’ towards the end of the war. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross for his achievements. In a text that reveals his intense patriotism and discipline, he describes being brought up in the strict Prussian tradition, the impact of the coming of the Nazi regime, and his own wartime career set against a fascinating study of everyday life in the Luftwaffe, and of the high morale of the force until its disintegration. In a postscript provided for this edition, Heinz Knoke writes of the struggle to survive after the war in Germany, and his building of a new life. Now that the Berlin Wall has been torn down, his memoirs are set in a new perspective, both a valuable contribution to aviation literature and a moving human story.
On 16 November 1916, Lieutenant Geoffrey Dorman took off from Shoreham in a Royal Aircraft Factory FE2b with the intention of heading West along the South Coast to the airfield at Gosport. Not long into the flight, however, a dense sea fog formed and as his engine was also 'misbehaving', Dorman decided 'it would be best to try and land'. Spotting a suitable area of farmland, Lieutenant Dorman put his aircraft down near the West Sussex village of Tangmere. Evidently aware of what he had stumbled across, Dorman's subsequent report on the incident included a suggestion that the site would be eminently suitable for an aerodrome. Within twelve months, construction had started - and so was born the legend of RAF Tangmere. Over the years that followed, Tangmere became one of the best known and strategically most important fighter stations in the United Kingdom. From its connections with the highly-polished air displays given at various RAF pageants in the 1920s and 1930s, through to numerous royal visits, or for its role in the post-war record-breaking speed flights or as a Cold War air-sea rescue base, Tangmere was a vital part of the nation's defenses. It is, however, for its service on the front line in the Second World War that Tangmere is best remembered. Not only was the airfield itself bombed and blitzed, its aircraft and pilots also found themselves in the thick of the fighting in the Battle of Britain, before turning to an increasingly offensive role whilst led by Wing Commander Douglas Bader. Operation Jubilee, the Combined Operations raid on Dieppe, and the D-Day landings in 1944 all required RAF Tangmere to play its part. As well as overt offensive sorties, Tangmere was involved in the secretive world of covert warfare, when, during the full moon periods, 'A' Flight of 161 (Special Duties) Squadron would move its Lysanders forward to Tangmere. As well as delivering SOE agents, wireless operators, wireless equipment and weapons to assist the Resistance, these aircraft often returned with agents, VIPs and even Allied escapers and evaders. In this highly-illustrated publication, the renowned aviation historian and author Mark Hillier explores the development and role of RAF Tangmere from 1916 until its closure in 1970, along with some of the fascinating individuals associated with it, through an intriguing collection of 100 objects.
An account of the decade-long conflict between humankind and hordes of the predatory undead is told from the perspective of dozens of survivors who describe in their own words the epic human battle for survival, in a novel that is the basis for the June 2013 film starring Brad Pitt. Reissue. Movie Tie-In.
